Miguel Issues Statement Denying Resurfaced Sexual Assault Allegation

In March, Miguel was accused of sexually assaulting a University of New Mexico student named Xian Bass. In an Instagram post at the time, Bass says that she saw Miguel in a Los Angeles club and approached him to take a selfie. Afterward, she alleges that “he reache[d] his hand down my shirt and [took] my breast out of my top.”

“I approached you respectfully and you still decided my body was not sacred enough to be treated as a human being,” Bass wrote in the post. “After we took this photo, you took it upon yourself to grab my breast and remove it from my shirt WITHOUT CONSENT. You then proceeded to look at my naked breast with such a disgusting look on your face… Have you gotten away with this in the past? Well, it stops HERE and NOW. I will not sit in shameful silence and allow sexual assault to be normalized.”

The accusation was reported on in a limited capacity when it was made, and TMZ asked Miguel about it and he denied it.

In a new Spin story, Bass provides further detail on her accusation and says that she filed a police report after the incident. Spin confirmed that Bass filed a report against Miguel Pimentel on March 14, and that an LAPD officer investigated a sexual assault or harassment allegation involving the two parties. Before any action could be hypothetically taken against Miguel, “what the detective said is that other women have to come forward,” Bass told Spin.

“I didn’t want to [file the report] because black lives matter,” Bass said. “I [didn’t] want to because I do not want to put another brown man in jail. I [didn’t] want to because I [didn’t] want to be re-traumatized by going to law enforcement. However, yes, I did. I didn’t want to, but I do know that for other people who may have been abused or assaulted or whatever, maybe this will help them as well.”

While Spin did not talk to Miguel directly about the accusation, he issued a new statement when asked about it through his publicist: “I felt I had already addressed how bizarre and twisted this accusation was when I was asked about it in March. Her story of what transpired is not accurate and the accusation is unfair and unwarranted.”

Read the full Spin story here. Below is Bass’ original accusation.

 

Dear Miguel, I used to be a fan of your music. I was a fan of your music until you blatantly disrespected my body in a public place. There is nothing I did or said that warranted this disgusting display of entitlement, rape culture, and male privilege. I approached you respectfully and you still decided my body was not sacred enough to be treated as a human being. After we took this photo, you took it upon yourself to grab my breast and remove it from my shirt WITHOUT CONSENT. You then proceeded to look at my naked breast with such a disgusting look on your face. It's still embedded in my memory. The sneer of your lip and salivating mouth is making my stomach turn. I really don't understand why you would do that to someone who approached you as a fan. I'm beyond disgusted right now. Are you used to treating random female strangers this way? Have you gotten away with this in the past? Well, it stops HERE and NOW. I will not sit in shameful silence and allow sexual assault to be normalized. #toxicmasculinity #maleprivilege #violated #rapecultureisreal #celebrityprivilege #iwasntaskingforit #speakup #speakupspeakout #nomiguel

A post shared by Xian Bass (@xianbass) on Mar 14, 2017 at 12:38pm PDT

This article was originally published by Stereogum.